(no subject)

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Date: December 5, 2000
Status: Semi-private to start [Complete]
Setting: Doorway between lobby and bar
Summary: Mistletoe!!!


Pepper wasn't a singer, per se, but she could carry a tune okay, and no force in the universe (well, she hoped) could stop her from singing Christmas carols when she thought they were needed. That being known, she was currently on the step ladder, again, in the process of putting up the decorations that Adam had given to her in a Great Big Box. More specifically at the moment, she was hanging the mistletoe.

She probably shouldn't have teased Adam about getting it. That was probably why he had decided to hang decorations in the other room for the while.

The problem Pepper was currently facing, however (other than the fact that she seemed perpetually in danger of falling off the step ladder because it was not the same as a tree), was what Christmas carols she could sing. For some reason, it just didn't sit well singing about Jesus with Heaven and Hell about. She couldn't really sing about choirs of angels when they had a bunch of them right above her head. It struck her as incredibly awkward.

So she started out with the really simple ones that all the kids sang. Jingle Bells and Rudolph, and all the rest, but they were all rather short songs and they got irritating when they were repeated. Finally, with a hammer in one hand and a hook waiting to be pounded into the ceiling, she settled on a new one.

"Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen, --(cough. Ceiling plaster down her throat)
When the snow lay round about deep and crisp and even --(blink. And in her eyes)
Brightly shone the moon at night, though the frost was crue-ahh! --(curse. Hit her thumb with the hammer)
When a poor man came in sight gath'ring winter fuel... --(smash. Oops, almost put a hole in the ceiling)

"Well, I'm just bloody brilliant at this."

Comments

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"I've never heard that one before," remarked Sirius, watching Pepper attempt to hang the mistletoe from the door frame. He figured it was probably a muggle one, judging from the ridiculous way she was trying to hang things. Sirius wasn't so bad with muggle tools ever since he'd decided to fix up an old muggle motorbike years ago, but hammers were still enough to send him into fits of laughter.

"Did you want some help with that?" Amusing as this might be, mistletoe was always a handy thing to have about.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper firmly reminded herself that whipping about the way she normally did would not be a wise move, the way she was currently situated. She turned around to face... someone she hadn't met yet. "Never heard it?" she said incredulously, smiling. "What planet are you from, then? Or are you Jewish or summat?"

She looked at her current progress and cringed. Help would be good at this point. Before she brought the whole ceiling down around them. "Actually, if you could hold the mistletoe and keep the ladder steady, that would be fantastic. I'm Pepper, by the way," she added, holding out a hand.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"I'm a wizard, actually. We have some songs in common, but not all of them. I knew that one about the reindeer already."

He stepped out of the doorway and crossed the room to take her hand, shaking it firmly. "Sirius Black. Nice to meet you. And if you don't mind, I have a better idea."

Leaning against the ladder, he took out his wand, eyed the mistletoe, and squinted. "Wingardium Leviosa," he muttered, almost to himself. The mistletoe levitated out of her fingers, and, spinning about in midair, floated upwards until it rested on the ceiling. With a sharp jab of his wand, Sirius sealed it with a slightly modified Permanent Sticking Charm. It would be impossible to remove* until January.

"How's that?"

*To Sirius' working definition of possible, at least. The concept of angelic and demonic powers hadn't fully realised itself to him yet.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Wizard? He was a -

Oh. He was.

"Cor," Pepper breathed. "I mean I knew you were all around here, but I never met... what a great name. It looks perfect. And how'd you do that? I mean, are wizards born with magic, or do they have to learn it? And do you need the wand to do it? How come I've never seen you around here before?" Stop asking so many questions. "Er, I mean... sorry. I just get a little chatty when I.... I never met a wizard before. Just angels and demons and the usual around here."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

Sirius laughed good-naturedly at her response. "It's all right. I remember the first time I ever had a friend from a muggle-- er, that's what we call non-wizards, people like you-- background, I felt the same way. Do you have any idea how amazing things like telephones and motorbikes and escalators are?"

He smiled at the memory-- the recipient of most of his muggle enthusiasm had actually been a young Remus Lupin. Looking back, he realised that he had absolutely terrified the boy at the time, and Sirius was grateful to his eleven-year-old self for that.

"Both born with it and learned. If you don't have any magic in you no one can teach you, but even though most magical children can do some basic magic mostly by accident, it takes a few years of schooling to learn how to control it and do more advanced things. But that levitating charm is first year stuff. Watch this."

He waved his wand at the mistletoe again, and a few sparks flew out. The mistletoe was suddenly lit as if with Christmas lights, and a sparse spattering of snow began to fall from the ceiling.

"I haven't met most people here yet. I keep to myself mostly for," a very slight pause, "various reasons. Here, do you need a hand down?" He extended his hand to her to help her off the ladder.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

"Escalators?" Pepper repeated amusedly. It was hard to imagine anyone being amazed by an escalator, but she supposed if she'd never seen one before.... "I could see how a motorbike would be amazin'," she mused aloud. "Always thought it would be fun to ride one of those." Pepper had a suspicion that her father had driven one. Her mother had hinted at it once or twice.

"Must be fun to go to school for that 'nstead of what all the normal people have to learn. I'd much rather 'ave studied that," she confessed. "You're lucky."

When he charmed the mistletoe, she laughed and raised a hand to catch the random scattering of snowflakes. It took her a moment to realize exactly what he'd done. "It's real...." Her eyes widened in awe. "That's incredible." She raised her face to it, catching the powder on her cheeks.

When he offered his hand, she took it and carefully descended down the step ladder. "Cheers," she said on reaching the ground, still grinning joyfully.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"I used to have one. A motorbike, I mean, not an escalator. Lovely, too. Much better than cars or whatever it is muggles use to get around these days." He shrugged. "School is school. But yeah, I prefer magic to maths in general, but there are subjects for all types. Arithmancy is about as boring as can be, frankly."

Her reaction to the snow pleased him. It was always nice to be appreciated, especially by pretty young girls. And she was young, it startled him to realise. He sometimes forgot that he was hardly twenty anymore. She had to be about Harry's age, come to think of it. Still, her attention, even if it was more on the magic than on him, was not bad for his slightly bruised ego.

He grinned the way he might have if he were twenty years younger when he helped her down the ladder and then, once she reached the last rung, slipped a hand behind her lower back to steady her, swung her to the ground, and then dipped her. He paused for a second to say, with a smirk, "Whoops, mistletoe," before adding a dramatic kiss to the equation.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

He used to have a motorbike? Well, then.

She made her way down the steps with caution, and was so focused on her feet that when he swung her around, she had no means to counterbalance. She spun off the last step easily and looked up at him in puzzlement, hands reaching out to clutch his shoulders so she felt steady. This wasn't something that happened to her often enough for her to guess what was coming.

Until she saw that smirk. "Whoops, mistletoe."

She opened her mouth to protest, which in the end was exactly the wrong thing to do, of course. And then when his lips met hers, she figured... why not? It was in the Christmas spirit after all, and he seemed like a nice enough fellow. Wasn't bad at kissing either. So she kissed back.

The snow was still falling. It was rather nice, actually.

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

Strolling toward the bar with no intention of doing anything this afternoon but minding his own business over a quiet drink, John hauled up short at the sight of Pepper in a state of liplock with a scruffy-looking bloke who had to be at least twenty years older than she was. He stopped not so much out of shock at the public display of affection as out of confusion as several disparate thoughts collided messily in his head, leaving him momentarily stymied.

One of them was, Well, at least it's not College Boy. Hard on its heels came But weren't she and Crowley--?, Doesn't Adam--? and finally, What the hell business is it of yours, anyway, old man? The one thing he absolutely didn't have the right to be at a moment like this was jealous.

So, after waiting a beat or two for them to finish or notice him standing there, he conspicuously cleared his throat. "Oi, get a room, would you?" he said gruffly. "You're blocking the way to the bar."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

The moment Sirius heard John's voice, he broke off the kiss, and carefully drew Pepper out of the dip until they were both standing, and then let go of her. He flashed her an apologetic look, although he was still grinning, and the look he flashed John could only have been described as cheeky.

Well, who could blame him? He felt a bit bad for getting the girl in a potentially uncomfortable situation, but he really didn't mind being taken for the sort of bloke who'd have a shot with a 20 year old girl. Still, she was a nice kid, so he couldn't let the misconception continue.

"We were, ah, a little stuck," said Sirius, pointing to the mistletoe. "Of course, if you keep walking just a bit, this might get interesting."

He was joking, of course. Entirely.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Oops. Recognized that voice. She was glad that he was letting her up and not making a show of it, because that was really the last thing she needed going around. "Or rather, he swept me off the step ladder. I should be more careful 'round 'ere."

Still, she couldn't help but laugh at what Sirius suggested. "Yeah, he's right. Go on, John, step forward a bit an' we'll both 'ave a go at you," she teased with a grin. "It's almost Christmas, after all."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John cocked an eyebrow at the mistletoe as he lit a cigarette. "Tempting," he said, addressing the remark directly to Pepper, "but it's just a little more crowded under there than I fancy. Take a rain check?"

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

Pepper came right back with, "I'll hold you to it," still smiling and then shaking her head to toss snowflakes out of her hair. She had missed the holidays in Tadfield. People connected more here, she thought. London hadn't been that way, not at all. Or maybe she hadn't been.

She glanced back over her shoulder at the ladder. "I should prob'ly move that out of your way, shouldn't I? Still got more decorations to hang up...."

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"Would you be needing any more help?" he asked. "Promise not to kiss you," he added with a wink.

He glanced at the mistletoe suspiciously. "You know, though, where I come from, it wouldn't have exactly given us a choice. Doesn't muggle mistetoe make you stay until you've snogged and jeer at you a bit? Doesn't seem half as fun otherwise."

[dangeroushabits.livejournal.com]

John took a large step backward at Sirius' question, now regarding the mistletoe with equal suspicion. Muggle, where've I heard that--oh yeah, the kid with the stick. And Roman. Wonder how many of 'em are actully wandering around here? "Nah, it's just a tradition, and only if you're directly underneath. The other kind sounds a tad risky to me. Not to mention it'd get violently dismembered the first time someone got stuck under it with Ligur..." He shuddered.

[playswithboys.livejournal.com]

"More help is always good," Pepper told Sirius laughingly, reaching into the Great Big Box, pulling out some streamers and tossing them over his shoulders like a drag queen's boa. "We c'n move the ladder and get the doorway done all fancy."

She listens to John's comment and agrees with his statement about regular - muggle? - mistletoe, but she doesn't know about, "Ligur? Dun't know who he is, I haven't met 'im I guess." Seeing John's reaction, she figures it might be just as well.

[grimsirius.livejournal.com]

"Glad to," he replied. "Want me to just levitate it, or would you prefer me to break my back trying to lift that thing." He eyed it. "Those have never looked sturdy to me. What do muggles use as a cushioning charm?" He asked, already preparing to levitate it to the doorway. Before doing that, however, he flicked his wand up at the mistletoe with a smile.

That was more like it. Possibly it was because he hadn't met Ligur yet, but wizarding mistletoe was always more fun.

(Done?)